16 de Septiembre "El Grito"

El Grito or "The Cry," was originally delivered in 1810 by Mexican national hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a parish priest in the village of Dolores. With "El Grito," Hidalgo openly declared his support for independence and rallied the local indigenous population to rise up against Spain.

There are conflicting reports of exactly when Hidalgo delivered the cry, whether on the evening of September 15, 1810, or the morning of September 16. El Grito is traditionaly read by the Mexican president in Mexico City at 11:00pm on September 15, while Mexico observes its Independence Day on September 16.

Friday night there was a reception at the Portland City Hall for Mexicans in the Media and the Latino Chamber to start the weekends festivities. My BFF J is owner of Latino Perspective magazine. She mentioned something about free food and an open bar. Que?? Free food and drink??? I am SO there!! Various Mexican restaurants were respresented there. I had a little bit of the food and it was all really good. Chicken mole, beans, Salsa Verde with Chicken, rice, carnitas....yum! I stood in line to wait for the fresh tortillas that were being made, but by the time I got close to the front of the line, I had finished everything on my little plate so I got out of the line and settled for hearing they were good.

I used to have a dress like the little girl in the first picture. My Mom put me in Folklorico Mexicano dancing classes from the time I was a little girl, until I didn't think it was cool anymore. I was the typical teenager, so I had to rebel. The truth is that I perfomed dances from every region of Mexico and we even traveled to different cities for my performances. There are pics of my dancing days at my Mom's house, but I don't know if they will ever make it to this blog..maybe, we'll see!

We met some other friends there and J took the hubby and kids. I took plenty of pics. No food shots though, that would be too cruel.
The Mariachis were great!! Ironically, they started singing a song that reminds me of my Dad almost immediately after we got there. They made their way around the crowd and ended up having a Mariachi Jam Session of sorts. Some of the restaurant employees let loose after everyone was fed. It was really fun to watch!

Here's a little dancer and J, A and me, the 3rd wheel.....

After a few free Margaritas, the pics started to get a little silly....



Hahahaha! Good thing I haven't told J about my blog yet...she's liable to kill me for this one!! All in all it was a fun night. Good friends, good music, good food and drinks.....what more could one ask for? Actually, there was one person missing that would have made this evening absolutely perfect....I miss you chiquito!